Wright Investors Service Inc. Grows Position in Wells Fargo & Company $WFC

Wright Investors Service Inc. raised its position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 27,526 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,045 shares during the quarter. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Wells Fargo & Company were worth $2,205,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Accretive Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Wells Fargo & Company during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $399,000. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 10.4% in the 1st quarter. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. now owns 758,376 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $54,471,000 after purchasing an additional 71,740 shares during the period. Secured Retirement Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Wells Fargo & Company in the 1st quarter worth approximately $408,000. RKL Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 166.4% in the 1st quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,185 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $588,000 after purchasing an additional 5,113 shares during the period. Finally, Allianz SE boosted its holdings in shares of Wells Fargo & Company by 22.6% in the 1st quarter. Allianz SE now owns 212,335 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $15,244,000 after purchasing an additional 39,150 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 75.90% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on WFC. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $92.00 to $91.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Wells Fargo & Company from $77.00 to $87.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 4th. Raymond James Financial lowered Wells Fargo & Company from a “strong-buy” rating to a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of Wells Fargo & Company in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $82.56.

Wells Fargo & Company Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of NYSE WFC opened at $84.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $271.04 billion, a PE ratio of 14.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 0.83, a current ratio of 0.84 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.06. Wells Fargo & Company has a twelve month low of $53.31 and a twelve month high of $84.93. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $80.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $75.37.

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE:WFC) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 15th. The financial services provider reported $1.54 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.13. The firm had revenue of $20.82 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $20.83 billion. Wells Fargo & Company had a return on equity of 12.29% and a net margin of 16.82%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up .6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.33 EPS. Analysts expect that Wells Fargo & Company will post 5.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wells Fargo & Company Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, August 8th were given a $0.45 dividend. This represents a $1.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, August 8th. This is a positive change from Wells Fargo & Company’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Wells Fargo & Company’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.82%.

About Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Co is a diversified and community-based financial services company, which engages in the provision of banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance products and services. It operates through the following segments: Consumer Banking and Lending, Commercial Banking, Corporate and Investment Banking, and Wealth and Investment Management.